Early this morning Oden entered the ice at approx. 79°N, 65°E, north of Novaya Zemlya, at the southern entrance of the St. Anna Trough. During the morning, we saw many large footprints in the snow. By mid-morning, a large polar bear was transecting the cracked up icescape, welcoming us to border between Barents and Kara Sea.

Much equipment, instruments and methods have been trimmed in by now. Air and surface water are continuously being probed and we are apprehensively approaching our first high-intensity study region in the SE Amundsen Basin. Oops, now we almost ran over a big polar bear, who was resting in desolate solitude in a big ice floe. Boy, was he surprised about the Oden crumbling up his ice floe… he thought he was the biggest thing around. Must be a strange way to be woken up… Good atmosphere on board.